Hi, I'm Jason Loughlin, and welcome to Take 5: Blues Chord Melody. In this Take 5, we'll look how to solo with chords over a 12-bar blues.

We'll start with the basics by linking together dom 7th chord inversions with diatonic passing tones and half step approach notes. Next, we'll look at how to incorporate IV/I, IV/IV, V/I, V/V and chromatic passing notes. Then, we're gonna add altered chords to our blues by using augmented and diminished chords. For our fourth study, we'll harmonize the blues scale with chords and tone clusters by using major 6th chords, dom 13th chords, and stacked 4ths. In our final study, we'll make use of contrary motion by adding it to melodies, incorporating it into V/Vs and turnarounds. We'll also work in partials — in other words, just playing part of chord shapes rather than the four note voicing. Each one of these blues chord melodies will end with a new turnaround that you can add to your toolbox.

As always, you'll have notation and tablature for all the studies and all the backing tracks. Grab your guitar, and let's get started!